Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco is one of the most beautiful locations in the U.S. to be a street performer. The area is full of tourists and people happy to see a good act -- and to tip accordingly.

The Port of San Francisco has a unique dual-tiered program for street performers at Fisherman's Wharf. You can be an unlicensed street performer and take hour and a half time spots on a first-come first-grab basis. Or you can be a licensed street performer and be allowed to reserve 3-hour time slots. The license sounds like a good idea if you are a regular at the Wharf, but it is expensive at $500/year or $50 month. In addition, one requirement is that you must pay for insurance. They have a shared group insurance that is about $250/year. It excludes certain types of acts, including acts with animals. It does not exclude fire performers, which is great since fire acts are so popular now.

To me, it sounds as if it would be worth being licensed if you plan to perform at the Wharf for at least a couple months - because you can book the choice time slots and locations. I also suppose the better acts will be licensed. However, if you cannot afford the license or do not want to be bothered, you can simply show up and vie for an available slot.

Rather than bog you down with details, I will just post the links here:

As far as street performing in the rest of San Francisco, it seems to be legal, but some performers complain of being chased off. Who knows- maybe they are noisy or inconsiderate. The Entertainment Commission of San Francisco does not issue licenses. The only area that is organized and optionally-licensed is the Wharf.

Sue Basko

Sue Basko is a lawyer in California, Illinois, and is an attorney and counsellor of the U.S. Supreme Court. She works in law for music, film, design, indie journalism, protest law, and land use planning. She earned a Juris Doctorate graduating maga cum laude. She has a B.A. in Film and Video and attended graduate school in Radio/ TV/ Film with an emphasis on digital production, media law, and management. She has produced and directed hundreds of low-budget TV shows and videos, as well as doing video, audio, and lighting tech on many large-scale events. She made shows for such organizations as Chicago Public Libraries, Chicago Public Schools, National Strategy Forum, Art Institute of Chicago. She hired crews and handled budgets. She directed tech on a large scale rave style dance floor, with special effects and computer-controlled lights. She worked staff at Northwestern University School of Law with the classes in Trial Practice, Trial Advocacy, Negotiations, and National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA).

Susan Basko assisted with a 2012 study conducted by OSCE-ODIHR (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights). She participated in a summit of many nations in Vienna, Austria, where her legislative proposals regarding independent media use in protests/ public assemblies were adopted and sent to the 70+ member nations.

Recently, she attended a semester-long seminar course taught by Deray McKesson of Black Lives Matter fame at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. She also participated in Harvard University's School for Resistance.

CONTACT easily by email:

suebaskomusic@gmail.com

Notice

Folks, if it is not on my blogs (see links on sidebar), or on my owntwitter or my facebook, it is not me. I am never involved in anything distasteful or questionable. If you see something like this, it is not my words or work, but that of stalkers/ crazies.